1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a system for applying a function to an area of a digital image where the area is selected by a user and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus that allows a user to control a window applied to a digital image and apply an artifact removal function to the portion of the image designated by the window, where the window can be moved around in the image by touching the display and the user can "zoom" on the portion of the image desired, thereby allowing the user to clearly identify the portion of the image to be processed.
2. Description of the Related Art
Amateur photographers, using simple and inexpensive cameras, often take photographs that the photographer wants to have reproduced to obtain additional copies or wants to have enlarged. The photographer will sometimes misplace the negatives and only retain the original print. In this situation the original print must be photographed or otherwise captured. This capturing can be done chemically or digitally. These photographs can include scratches, dust and other imperfections caused by handling as well as original image capture imperfections, such as the condition called "red-eye" where the eyes of subject appear to have a red spot in them. Such imperfections become particularly noticeable when the image is enlarged. These same problems occur when the original negative is retained by the photographer and is used for reproduction or enlargement.
To provide the amateur photographer with a higher quality reproduction, the local print shop operator needs to be able to easily and quickly identify a localized area of an image which has an artifact (red eye, dust, etc.) and then apply a correction only to the area specified by the operator. The restricted application of the correction function is necessary due to the nature of such image processing correction functions, such that the more aggressive the function is in detecting and removing artifacts, the more it is prone to false detections and failures (false corrections). A solution to this problem is to provide a user interface technique which allows an operator to precisely identify, and subsequently constrain the function to a localized area of a digital image.
Constraint techniques have been implemented on computers, through the use of graphical user interfaces, windowing systems and the use of pointing devices (computer mouse, pen etc.). Typically a point type location indicator is displayed on the computer screen (an arrow, cross hairs, etc.) which indicates to the operator where the application "thinks" the operator is pointing. From there the application can apply a function to a localized area. However, the application must also know the size of the area surrounding the location indicator (cross hairs). This is typically done by selecting a brush size and/or shape or drawing a border around the region of interest. Unfortunately, these widely used techniques all require fundamental knowledge of computer operation and application interface. Further, the user does not see the size of the area only the location indicator.
Professional Imaging Premier System and Consumer Imaging Create-It Software are two examples of Eastman Kodak Co. products which employ these techniques. The first system is intended for operators highly skilled in the art of digital imaging applications. The second system is a software package intended to be used by a skilled computer operator. Both systems do possess a user interface which attempts to simplify their operation. The user interface, however, assumes some level of computer application knowledge as previously discussed.
What is needed is a system that does not require any level of computer application knowledge.